Viet Nam slams Human Rights Watch's report
Ha Noi, Jan. 23 (VNA) -- Viet Nam has again lashed out at the Human Rights Watch (HRW)'s January 21 allegations, which said "Viet Nam has continued its crackdown on ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands".
"There is no truth in these allegations," foreign ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh stated on Thursday, while responding to queries from correspondents, who asked about Viet Nam's reaction to the HRW's accusations.
She stressed "The so-called 'Human Rights Watch' continued to repeat its blatant slander, fabrications and distortions of the situation in Viet Nam."
"In Viet Nam no one is arrested on religious grounds," Thanh said, adding "There are only law breakers, who are punished in accordance with the law."
"It is known to everybody that some people are acting under the pretext of the 'Dega Protestantism' to stage unrest and carry out sabotage activities aimed at sowing division among ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands," Thanh said. "Their activities also aim to weaken Viet Nam's national unity bloc and sabotage its territorial integrity. No country will allow such moves," Thanh said at a regular press briefing on Thursday.
The spokeswoman highlighted that the Central Highlands' strategic position is of special importance in socio-economic development and national defence and security maintenance.
"The Vietnamese Government has shown much concern and has devised various policies and measures to provide favourable conditions for this region, rich in natural resources, to develop," she told reporters.
Thanh also reiterated Viet Nam's constant policy to respect religious freedom and freedom of belief and non-belief, saying "All religious activities of ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands, including Christians, are conducted normally."
